Canon Sales Co. said Monday its group net profit for the business first half through June 30 fell 33 percent from a year earlier to 1.11 billion yen, despite a 4.6 percent rise in sales to 360.02 billion yen.
The sole distributor of all Canon Inc. products attributed the profit drop to increased marketing costs and expenses related to the relocation of its headquarters to a new building in Shinagawa, Tokyo, as well as to the creation of a new integrated information system.
But sales were robust, especially those of multifunction printers, digital cameras and ink-jet printers, the company said.
In its consolidated earnings report, Canon Sales said its pretax profit fell 24.3 percent to 3.6 billion yen in the first half.
Net profit per share was 7.33 yen, down from 10.92 yen a year earlier. The company will pay an interim dividend of 9 yen per share, unchanged from a year ago.